Crisis intervention team (CIT) is a collaborative initiative comprising of law enforcement, mental health agencies, family members, consumers, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). CIT program is recognized globally as a setting that enhances the safety of the people. It effectively assists those with mental and substance use conditions. It also promotes community partnerships as it incorporates various agencies in its service provision. The agencies include people with mental disorders, law enforcement, and many more. Each agency performs a specific role. For instance, law enforcement plays a central role in program development (Taheri, 2016, p. 76). They provide a continuum expression that aids in engaging the general public before police involvement. Therefore, CIT is said to be essential in modern society as it ensures everyone, including those who are mentally ill, are safe.
CIT programs are often needed urgently as various communities are challenged with insufficient mental health services and funding. The de-institutionalization of people from the psychiatric hospitals of the state has left a vast number of mentally ill people helpless. They heavily rely on low enforcement officers to provide services during a crisis. Such a state makes those affected to experience arrest. They are, at times, injured or killed as they encounter law enforcement officers. The arrests statics of the mentally ill people is 4.5 times more than that of the rest of the people (Taheri, 2016, p. 79). In the United States, at least one of the four people fatally shot by police has a mental illness.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The first CIT program was initiated in 1988, Memphis, Tenn. The model was useful across jurisdictions. It had several important outcomes. For instance, it used data to inform all of its practices. They had processes for data collection and analysis. This process was categorized into three sections, including operational elements, ongoing elements, and sustaining elements. Sustaining items is the foundational aspect that ensures an effective CIT program. The constraints with personnel, time, and technology make data collection and analysis for the CIT programs challenging (Kirst et al., 2015, p. 369). However, if there is the right data, many applications can meet their expectations.
CIT is a non-profit organization, and so it gets funding from government and well-wisher, including none governmental organizations. The law enforcement officers are facing pressure to respond to a crisis involving people with mental illnesses safely. In the previous cases, mental illness was viewed as a crime; however, at the moment, people and the law enforcement agency have been made to know that it is a disease (Kirst et al., 2015, p. 370). CIT programs focus on community responses and ways to help mentally ill people. Due to this, the programs entail certain components, including community collaboration. Community collaboration is a crucial factor that can improve the operations of the CIT. CIT programs are to build relationships with different stakeholders and organizations in the community. Such a process requires policies and procedures that support problem-solving initiatives (Kirst et al., 2015, p. 373). Besides, there is a need for curriculum development that suits the mentally ill.
In conclusion, CIT programs have to be vibrant and accessible during the crisis. A productive community collaboration can enhance such a requirement. It ensures the crisis response system access various scenes quickly and efficiently. Therefore, communities should work closely with the CIT team to ensure that services reach those in need (mentally ill). Additionally, the law enforcement officers and first responders to a crisis should undergo training on behavioral health and advocate field. Such a course enables them to understand the common signs and symptoms of mental illness. They are as well able to know when those symptoms represent a crisis. Lastly, they get to know how to utilize community resources effectively to provide assistance.
References
Kirst, M., Francombe Pridham, K., Narrandes, R., Matheson, F., Young, L., Niedra, K., & Stergiopoulos, V. (2015). Examining implementation of mobile, police-mental health crisis intervention teams in a large urban center. Journal of mental health , 24 (6), 369-374.
Taheri, S. A. (2016). Do crisis intervention teams reduce arrests and improve officer safety? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Criminal Justice Policy Review , 27 (1), 76-96.
